Of more than 3,300 brackets submitted to the AJC Varsity Playoff Challenge, just one was perfect at the end.
Jason Lord, of Apple Valley, picked every outcome correctly in the 6A bracket.
Lord said he became a fan of Carrollton coach Joey King when he was at Cartersville and “never doubted” the Trojans would defeat then-defending champion Grayson in the semifinals.
“In the finals of 6A, I really wanted to go with Carrollton. but I’ve learned over the last 30 years to not bet against Buford,” Lord said in an email. “All the way back to coach Dexter Wood and Jess Simpson, they have the most prepared and well-coached teams with elite talent. Buford doesn’t try and ‘trick’ anyone — they know what they do well and don’t go outside of that much.”
Lord, a 1997 graduate of Commerce High, has been a super fan of high school football since his dad started taking him out on Friday nights.
Lord played football for Steve Savage at Commerce, noting that he was part of the 1994 team that beat Buford back when they were both in Region 8-A and the 1995 team that made a deep playoff run.
“There’s nothing better than Friday nights in northeast Georgia,” Lord said. “Being from a small community like Commerce, it’s like a family reunion, class reunion and crosstown rivalry all in one place.”
During the playoffs, once Commerce was eliminated, Lord’s dad would look up the best game for them to go watch.
“Went to numerous games to watch ‘TFL.’ That’s what we called Lincoln County in Commerce. ‘Team from Lincolnton,’” Lord said.
At the time, Lincoln County was a powerhouse program under legendary coach Larry Campbell, who spent 42 years with the program that won 11 state championships. Seven of those championships would’ve been between when Lord was born and when he graduated high school. Lincoln County, which made the state finals this year but lost to four-peat champion Bowdon, won a region title every year from 1982-98.
Lord, now a wrestling referee, went on to coach football himself, spending time on East Jackson and Banks County staffs.
He filled out brackets for the other public school playoffs but didn’t enter them in the contest. However, none were perfect.
He had the semifinals and finals right in 5A. In 4A, he admits he “wasn’t close,” picking Cartersville and North Oconee to make the finals. For 3A, he had Jefferson against North Hall.
“I had a conversation with some of my coaching buddies and told them LaGrange vs. North Hall was the scariest round 2 game in the entire state,” Lord said.
In 2A, Lord went with his friend Biff Parson (who he worked with at Banks County) and Rockmart winning it all.
And in A-Division II, Lord went back to his roots.
“I had the finals correct but went with TFL because of their history in the seasons ending in five,” Lord said. “State champions in ’85, ’95 and ’05.”
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